SAO 15 - Alicization Invading

by Reki Kawahara

  “Release the ASDS!”

  The faint vibrations his body felt conveyed the release of their baggage from the afterdeck.

  “Release complete… ASDS self-propulsion initiated.”

  The submarine with a pack of stray dogs and a single shark aboard accelerated in the blink of an eye and charged straight into the belly of that giant ocean turtle floating atop the ocean.

  Chapter 15 - In Northern Lands

  10th Month of Human World Calendar 380

  Part 1

  Placing the dishes she finished washing on the dish drainer, Alice Synthesis Thirty wiped her hands on the hem of her apron as she flicked her face up.

  The treetops visible beyond the small glass window had lost quite a number of leaves, dyed in red and yellow, to the chill of recent days. The arrival of winter was indeed earlier when compared to Central Capital Centoria.

  Still, the rays of Solus pouring down from the skies, blue for the first time in a while, seemed warm. A pair of Treeclimbing Rabbits huddled together on a thick branch of the tree straight ahead, apparently enjoying their sunbath.

  Alice smiled as she gazed at them for a while before she turned about and spoke.

  “Hey, we seem to be having fine weather today, so how about we have lunch all the way at the eastern hills?”

  No one replied.

  The log cabin had only two rooms, and this one served as the living room, dining room, and kitchen with a plain wood table placed right in its middle.

  Seated on one of the chairs, similarly plain, was a black-haired youth. Not even raising his head at Alice’s call, his vacant stare stayed upon a single spot atop the table.

  He never did have much meat on him, but still, he was obviously more slender than even Alice now. His bony frame was visible even with the loose robe he had on. The empty right sleeve hanging down languidly from the tip of his shoulders only made him look all the more tragic.

  Light was absent from his eyes, jet-black like his hair. Those two eyes reflected no more than his locked heart.

  Suppressing the pain in her chest that she could never ever get used to, Alice continued in a cheerful voice.

  “It might be a little windy, so it might be best to dress up thick. One moment, I shall prepare them at once.”

  After removing her apron and hanging it off the hook beside the sink, she turned towards the bedroom next door.

  Bundling her long, blonde hair behind, she wrapped a cotton scarf around herself. Along with a faded black patch around her right eye that still lacked light. She first put on one of the woollen overcoats arranged on the wall, then returned to the living room with the other under her arm.

  The black-haired youth made no movement at all. After prompting him on by placing her hands on his skinny back, he eventually stood from the chair in an awkward motion.

  However, that was all the youth was capable of; he could not walk even a single mel. Putting the overcoat on from behind him, she went around to his front and tied the leather strap near his neck tight.

  “You can do it, keep them up for a little longer.”

  Saying so, she ran over to the corner of the room.

  A tough chair made from bright light brown wood was left there. Instead of four legs, it had two pairs of iron wheels attached, one large and one small. It was crafted by an elderly man by the name of Garitta who lived deep in the forest in solitude.

  Holding onto the grips attached to the back of that wheelchair, she rolled it over to behind the youth. Sitting him down on the leather seat as his body swayed perilously, she then tightly covered his two legs with a thick lap blanket.

  “There! Shall we make a move, then?”

  She patted the youth’s shoulders, grasped the grips, and was about to wheel the wheelchair towards the door located south of the room.

  The youth abruptly turned his face and reached his quivering left hand towards the eastern wall.

  “Aah… aah.”

  That deep, coarse voice was unintelligible. However, Alice immediately guessed what the youth desired.

  “Ah, I’m sorry. I will fetch them right away.”

  Three swords sat on sturdy metal fittings on the wall the youth stretched his hand towards.

  On the right was Alice’s «Fragrant Olive Sword».

  On the left was the jet-black long sword the youth once carried on his waist, the «Night Sky Sword».

  And in the middle was a pure-white long sword that lacked a master to call its own, the «Blue Rose Sword».

  Alice first removed the Night Sky Sword, almost as heavy as the Fragrant Olive Sword, from the wall and held it under her left arm.

  Next, she lifted the Blue Rose Sword as well. Its weight reached only half or so of the black sword’s. After all, it had lost more than half of the blade in its sheath.

  And the owner of this sword, that flaxen-haired youth who was this youth’s best friend, too, was no longer around…

  She shut her eye for a moment and held onto both swords as she returned to the wheelchair. Upon gently laying them onto his lap, the youth placed his left hand on them before his face fell once more. He could express his own intentions through voice and motion only when seeking out those black and white swords.

  “Be sure to keep a firm hold on them or they will drop.”

  Alice told him while holding back the ache in her chest that had not lessened despite the months that passed. Pushing the now heavier wheelchair, they went out through the door.

  A thick plank lay across the distance from the porch to the ground in the place of steps. Upon descending into the garden from there, a soft, cool breeze and the gentle sunlight enveloped the pair.

  The log cabin was built deep within the thick forest, in a wide meadow. Alice personally cut, stripped, and assembled the wood it used. It was not much to look at, but its structure was sturdy as only trees with high priorities were used. She had to put up with the countless comments from the elderly Garitta, who taught her the method from scratch, about how he had never seen a girl with such strength, however.

  This meadow was apparently where Alice and Eugeo had their secret playground when they were still children. Unfortunately, she had no memories of that time whatsoever. All memories from before she became an integrity knight were plundered through the «Synthesis Ritual».

  She told the elderly Garitta and the villagers that she lost all of her past memories, but offered no reason. But in truth, her current self—Integrity Knight Alice Synthesis Thirty—was no more than a temporary personality dwelling in the body of the one born and raised on this land, Alice Schuberg. She felt obligated to return it if she could, but the memories of the original Alice had departed from this world alongside Eugeo.

  “…Now, let us go.”

  Alice let out her voice to shake off that moment of contemplation and moved the wheelchair on, out from the front of the residence.

  Nearly all of the meadow, circular with a diameter of thirty mel, was covered in cushy undergrowth, but an abundance of withered grass lay stacked up in a section in its east. It appeared like the nest of a gigantic creature—or rather, it truly was—but the master of that nest was absent. She gave it a glance and pondered where it could have went to play today while exiting from the small path heading northwest from the meadow into the forest.

  The road split into the east and west five mel ahead. A village named Rulid was in the west, but she had no desire to visit without purpose. Entering the eastern path, she set out while stepping through the filtered sunlight sparkling on the ground.

  She slowly continued through the forest progressing from the season of autumn leaves to that of fallen leaves with the tenth month soon meeting its end.

  “Are you cold?”

  She called out to the youth but received no reply. He would say nothing even if plunged into a blizzard of intense cold. She looked over his shoulder and confirmed the overcoat’s collar was closed tightly.

  Of course, warming themselves would be easy if
she generated a thermal element or two. However, there were villagers who viewed them with suspicion, so she preferred to refrain from having rumors about her abuse of sacred arts spread.

  After walking for about fifteen minutes while carving furrows into the beaten path anew, the path ahead brightened up. A slightly elevated hill showed up in front after leaving the grove of trees. The road gradually became uphill, but still, Alice pushed the wheelchair on without difficulty.

  The view instantly opened up after reaching the top of the hill.

  Straight to the east was the blue surface of Lake Ruhr. And the extensive marshes deep within it. The forest continued indefinitely to the south.

  A look to the north revealed the «mountain range at the edge», covered in pure white snow, towering as though to pierce through the sky. The days she easily flew over those peaks astride her flying dragon seemed like a distant dream now.

  She did long to look upon the beautiful landscape with both eyes. The abundant energy in the earth and sun here should be capable of healing the right eye she lost on the outer wall of the Central Cathedral. However, she had no desire yet to eliminate only her own injury through sacred arts.

  After all, the youth’s hollow eyes could only continue their vacant stare towards mid-air even with the late-autumn scenery endlessly spreading out before him.

  Sitting down by the wheelchair, Alice leaned against the large wheel.

  “How beautiful. More so than any of those art pieces hung on the cathedral’s walls.”

  She called out the youth’s name with a smile.

  “…This is the world you protected, Kirito.”

  A single white water bird made ripples on the lake’s surface as it glided and soared away.

  How long had it been since she sat down?

  Solus’s ascent had progressed quite a bit when she finally noticed. It was about time to return to the cabin and prepare for lunch. In his current state, Kirito barely ate anything each time, so even a single missed meal would lead to a decline in his maximum Life.

  “It is getting late, let us make our way back.”

  It was when she stood up and grasped the wheelchair’s grips while saying so.

  Noticing light footsteps treading over grass and climbing the hill, Alice turned about.

  The one who approached was a young girl dressed in a black habit. Her lovely face that still retained vestiges of childishness showed a gleaming smile while she energetically waved her right hand.

  “Nee-samaa!”

  The gentle breeze brought her lively voice over and Alice smiled as well while she gave a slight wave back.

  Practically skipping over the last ten mel up, the girl took several seconds to catch her breath after her feet came to a stop, and spoke once more in a bright voice.

  “Good morning, Alice-neesama!”

  Springing to the side, she gave a vigorous greeting to Kirito sitting on the wheelchair as well.

  “Good morning to you too, Kirito!”

  Her broad grin that showed no worry over his lack of response was infused with faint sorrow the moment she turned towards the two swords on Kirito’s lap.

  “…Good morning, Eugeo.”

  Reaching out with her right hand as she whispered, she softly brushed against the Blue Rose Sword’s sheath with her fingertips. If someone unknown were to do that, Kirito would show a somewhat defensive response, but he now let her do as she pleased.

  Having greeted her two friends, the girl straightened up and turned back to Alice again.

  Alice replied while conscious of a mysterious tenderness deep in her chest.

  “Good morning, Selka. How did you ever know we were here?”

  It took over a month for her to able to stop calling her Selka-san.

  She had earnestly longed to meet her little sister ever since she found out about her existence from Kirito’s words at the Central Cathedral half a year ago. However, now that that wish was granted, the more precious she found Selka, the stronger this question grew within her: if she—an ex-integrity knight by the name of Alice Synthesis Thirty, rather than Alice Schuberg—had the right to be her elder sister.

  Selka might, or might not have noticed Alice’s unending conflict, but nonetheless, she spoke on with a smile free from concern over that issue.

  “I didn’t search with sacred arts or anything of that sort. You were out when I visited, so I thought you could have come here since today’s weather is so fine. I left fresh milk as well as an apple and cheese pie baked just this morning on the table, so be sure to have them for lunch.”

  “Thank you, that’s of great help. I was at a loss thinking of what to make.”

  “Well, Kirito might end up running away someday due to the food you make, after all, nee-sama!”

  Selka laughed and Alice replied while smiling as well.

  “Now you’ve said it! You know, I am capable of cooking pancakes without burning any now, at least!”

  “I wonder if that’s really true, you did turn them into cinders when you tried cooking them with thermal elements at first and all.”

  Alice tried to berate her with a poke to her forehead with her finger, but Selka nimbly dodged it and jumped into Alice’s bosom. She gently hugged her little sister’s back closer as she nudged her face into her breast.

  It was only at such times when she strongly wished she could flee from the intense pressure weighing on her heart.

  What a relief it would be if she could forget the guilt from turning her back to the duties of an integrity knight and spending her days, quietly, deep in this remote forest. Still, Alice knew at the same time that she should never forget that. The end was approaching from beyond the mountain range at the edge, moment by moment, even while she embraced her little sister.

  At the very end of the fierce battle at the Axiom Church Central Cathedral—

  Having suffered enough injuries to drain her Life away, Alice lay on the marble floor, immobile, vaguely aware of the flow of the battle.

  The struggle to death between Administrator the highest minister and Kirito who wielded two swords.

  The highest minister’s annihilation, incinerated in the flames of Chief Elder Chudelkin’s captivated delusions.

  The death of Kirito’s best friend, Eugeo, whose flesh was split apart alongside his cherished sword.

  Kirito who was caring for Eugeo had vehemently cried out to a mysterious crystal plate that appeared on the north edge of the hall. At the end of the exchange that Alice hardly understood, Kirito’s entire body suddenly stiffened up and just as she thought so, he fell onto the floor—with that, the world sank into silence.

  Right as Alice recovered a mere, slight amount of her Life and became capable of moving, Solus’s dawn shone in from the east window. With that light as a source of sacred energy, Alice first healed the fallen Kirito’s wounds. However, his consciousness remained lost and she reluctantly laid him down, and then attended to herself with healing arts before inspecting the crystal plate he spoke to.

  However, the surface that had shone pale purple already lost almost all of its light and there was no reply no matter how many times she touch or spoke to it.